Skype plugs in to Outlook and IE

Voice over IP provider Skype has released beta versions of toolbars for Outlook and Internet Explorer. 

The Outlook toolbar lets users make VoIP phone calls to phone numbers stored in their address book without leaving the application.

The Internet Explorer plug-in effectively adds all the functionality of the Skype VoIP application to the browser, including the contact list and an overview of the user's available SkypeOut credits.

The beta versions of the two applications were posted on Skype's website last week, but the code still contains some bugs.

The Outlook plug-in, for instance, offers to omit the '0' in area codes as is needed with international calls to many European countries. Instead of removing just the first zero, however, it deletes all of them resulting in a failed connection.

A Skype spokeswoman declined to give a projected release date for the final version of the tools, saying that Skype will collect user feedback to determine any necessary changes.

ExchangeWise has been selling an Outlook2Skype toolbar for Outlook offering similar functionality to the Skype beta product.

The Skype Outlook plug-in beta can be downloaded here and the Internet Explorer toolbar here.